French President and first lady sue Candace Owens after repeated claims Brigitte Macron is a man

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday (23 July) against American right-wing podcaster and speaker Candace Owens.

This follows Owens repeatedly claiming that the first lady was born male, implying she is transgender, a conspiracy theory which Owens has spread through her self titled podcast and on social media.

The politician has now taken legal action, accusing Owens of launching an “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions” in a 22 count defamation law suit.

It cites the claim from Owens that “Mrs. Macron was born a man, stole another person’s identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte” and that “Mrs. Macron and President Macron are committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets.”

The content creator declared in March 2024 that she would risk her “entire professional reputation” on the claim that Macron’s wife “is in fact a man” to her nearly 7 million followers on X (formerly Twitter).

On multiple occasions, Owens has also publicly claimed that the 72-year-old has a “penis”, repeating the statement across various platforms, such as in the above interview with America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel.

“Desperate public relations strategy” – Candace Owens

Owens doubled down on her allegations in an episode of her podcast posted on Wednesday, calling the legal move “goofy” and describing it as a “desperate public relations strategy.” 

Earlier this year, Owens promoted the conspiracy theory in a video series titled Becoming Brigitte, and also promoted the book Devenir Brigitte (Becoming Brigitte).

The book became a bestseller on Amazon, further pushing the spread of the rumour.

The Macrons said in a statement released by their attorneys this week that they had asked Owens repeatedly for a retraction, but “ultimately concluded that referring the matter to a court of law was the only remaining avenue for remedy.”

“Designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families” – French President

“Ms Owens’ campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety,” the statement added. 

“We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused.”

The lawsuit states that Owens used her platform for “verifiably false and damaging claims” about the married couple, including that the first lady was born male, the couple are blood relatives, and that Emmanuel Macron was appointed as France’s president through a CIA-run mind control operation.

Two women were convicted in September 2021 for spreading claims about Macron’s wife in a YouTube video claiming she used to identify as Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is in fact her brother.

Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and the entire LGBTQ movement brought with it a sexual plague on our society.

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 4, 2024

This is not the first time Owens has expressed controversial views on gender. In a notable incident on X (formerly Twitter) in 2024, she wrote: “Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder, and the entire LGBTQ movement brought with it a sexual plague on our society.”